Danganronpa: Despair's Labyrinth (SYOC)
by LadyNessus
Summary: Thirteen years after the Tragedy, the world is only starting to get back on it's feet. Future Foundation reestablished Hope's Peak Academy in Japan, as well as a new branch in America. Despair has been forgotten...until there's an attack on the schools. Twelve unlucky students have been abducted and put into a brutal killing puzzle, faced with an all-new, despair obsessed enemy.
1. Intro: Ghost of the Past

_This is my first story ever written on fanfiction (and anywhere really), and I decided to kick off my online writing career by writing an SYOC story for Danganronpa. Because why not, right? Now, I may be new to this, but I can be a real hard-ass when it comes to accepting characters. My number one pet peeve is Mary Sues, and I can tell the difference between an actual well thought out character and a half-assed one. I will not accept the half-assed ones!_

 _Anyways, this is a story that I've been planning for a while now, so I hope you'll like it, and I hope this shitty introduction doesn't give you the wrong impression about it. I will only be accepting nine characters (ten in all not counting mine), so the ones you send better be detailed! The story includes students from both Japan and America, so you can send in one or the other. See the rules at the end, and see my profile for the character sheet._

* * *

The wood creaked under my boots as I slowly walked up the stairs, my hand dragging along the wall to support myself. Tan wallpaper that once covered every inch of the wall was now peeling off, crackling slightly under my fingertips, exposing the rotten wall underneath. It was hard to breath in such a dusty, mildewy environment; I wish I had brought a face mask. Once I near the top, a low groan rang through the house, and I immediately stop mid-step. That didn't really sound like the house settling. I grab my EMF meter and continue walking up the last few steps.

I step onto an old shag carpet, that crunches under my weight, then I stop and listen. After a few moments I hear the groan again; it sounds like it's coming from one of the rooms. I walk to the nearest door, turn the rusted knob, and stick the meter inside. Silence. I go to the next door and repeat the process, only this time the meter goes off. I step inside carefully and observe what appears to be a child's bedroom. Dirty old toys line a shelf against the back wall, a twin sized bed is in the corner, a mobile with little planets on it hangs from the ceiling above it.

I kneel down in the center of the room and dig around in my bag until I produce my spirit box.

Laying it in the middle of the floor, I take a few steps back with the EMF meter in hand. It beeps again.

"Is anyone here," I ask. There is silence for several minutes. "Is there anyone here?"

The box comes to life, static filtering out of it's speakers. I can faintly hear a yes.

"Who am I speaking with?"

Silence again. Then the static returns, I can hear it talking, but I can't understand what it's saying.

"Is this your room?"

Static. It says no.

"Who's is it?"

There is more silence. I ask again. That static returns. It doesn't know.

"Is this where you died?"

Static. Yes.

I shift closer to the box. "How did you die?

Silence.

"Were you murdered?"

There's more static. It says yes.

"Who killed you?"

The abandoned room goes eerily quiet. Then the static turns abruptly on, but I can't make out any voices.

"Hello? Who killed you?"

The static continues. I can hear the house creak.

"Who killed you?"

Through the static I can hear one word. Despair.

"Huh?"

It says it again. Despair.

"Who killed you?"

Despair. Despair. Despair.

"Who killed you?"

The static cuts out, and the spirit box turns off by itself. All I can hear is my own heartbeat, and…

The door creaks open, and out of the corner of my eye I see a figure enter the room. I whirl around to find a tall man with a deadpan expression on his face standing in the doorway. His black hair is wild and his half-lidded eyes seem to glow red. There is foam dripping out of his mouth. I take a step backwards. He takes a step forwards.

"Who are you," I asked, my voice cracking. He reaches for a sheath attached to his belt and pulls out a large hunting while taking another step forward.

My eyes widen at the sight of the blade, and I back up even further until I hit the wall behind me.

"P-please, don't hurt me,"

He gets closer and closer until he is looming over me, his sour breath blowing in my face. He continues to say nothing as he wraps a hand around my forearm and brings the knife down on my wrist.

That's when I wake up.

* * *

I start to gasp as I'm pulled out of the nightmare, but it quickly evolves into a coughing fit. I start to sit up, but a sharp pain in my lower back makes me cry out and lay back down. When did I fall asleep? Why am I on the floor? Where...am I?

I sit up, slower this time, and I start to look around. I'm in a plain concrete room, a single flickering light bulb hangs from the ceiling. A metal door is in the center of the wall in front of me, darkness seeps through the barred window at the top of it. I twist around and find a single thin cot against the center of the wall. Next to it is a silver, metal toilet with a roll of toilet paper on the ground next to it. Adjacent to that is a metal sink. Seeing it makes me realize how thirsty I am, so I scramble to my feet and twist one of the knobs, gulping water down greedily.

When I've had enough I sit on the edge of the cot and stare at the ceiling.

"What is this place..." I say aloud. My voice sounds dry and broken.

I hear a voice coming through a grate in the door. It sounds heavy and tired.

"You're guess is as good is mine,"

I spring up and press my face against the bars to see who had spoken to me. It's dark on the other side of the door.

"Hello? Is someone there?" I ask.

"Yeah? Who are you?" The voice asks.

"Uh…" I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I'm uh...Saki...Saki Hisakawa...I'm a student of Hope's Peak Academy… Do you think you can help me?"

It's silent for a moment. "You're from the academy too?"

My mouth feels dry. "Uh, yeah. Could you perhaps help me out of here?"

"What's your talent?"

"Um…I'm the SHSL Paranormal Investigator…"

"Aw, that's rad,"

"Thanks...could you get me out of here?" I was starting to get a bit impatient.

"Did you try the door handle?" They ask.

I look down, saw a shiny door handle, and turned it. The door opened, and I stumbled out into the darkness.

* * *

 _Rules:_

 _No Mary Sues! I can't emphasize enough how much I hate bland, 2-D characters. If you want to have a better chance at getting a spot in this story, make your character interesting. Make a character that you want to see in a Danganronpa game._

 _Please actually take time to fill out the form! I really hate when people don't try their hardest, so I'm asking you to please follow everything on the form and fill it out thoroughly._

 _You can only submit ONE character. Since there are only a few spots in the story, I want everyone to have a fair chance._

 _Submit through PM, I will not even consider accepting a character through the comments, so don't even try._

 _No repeats of talents. I don't want two ultimate blah blah blah walking around in the same story._

 _There will be no limit on the genders that I will accept, I will only look at personality and backstory, so if you wanna better chance at landing a spot, MAKE 'EM INTERESTING._

* * *

 _Sorry if I sound real pushy, but I just can't deal with people who don't follow directions! I will be closing submissions whenever I feel I have a good enough cast assembled. So until then, hope you all have a nice day (or night)!_


	2. Cast List

_Okay, so it's been, what, like THREE DAYS since I've published this story and I've already picked out the full cast? It hasn't even been 24 hours since I put up the deadline. GOD I'M IMPATIENT. But I kind of have a valid reason behind this impatience_ _s, that I dont want to get into too deeply (cause it's embarrassing). Long story short, I am bedridden with a broken leg for a few weeks, and I have nothing to do, so I want to get writing so I have something to do._

 _L_ _et's get back on topic. I was sent quite a few characters over the past few days, and a majority of them were amazing. It was so hard to pick out the final cast, because each character I received had it's own story and personality, and were awesome in their own ways. In the end I had to go with my gut feeling, and I selected the characters I felt would fit in the story well, and would interact well with the other characters. It was a really difficult decision, and I ended up adding two more spots than I originally planned, just because I couldn't say no to some of the characters. I feel so bad that I couldn't except all the characters, because all of them are awesome. I give my apologizes to the owners of the characters that didn't make it, and I hope that you all find stories for your characters at some point._

\--

 _Now, since the cast has been selected, and the story is underway, I would like to go over a few things that the readers will expect from this SYOC._

 ** _1\. Since there will be violence, death, and swearing, the rating may change._**

 ** _2\. Most of the cast is dominated by women (that's just how it happened to work out), so if your a misogynistic asshole, please get the hell out._**

 ** _3\. Some of the characters are apart of the LGBT community, and there will be both straight and queer romance within this story. If you got a problem with that, get the hell out._**

 ** _4\. All characters are eligible for getting executed, so don't get mad if yours happens to die._**

\--

 _Now! Without further ado, let's introduce our full cast!_

 ** _1\. Saki Hisakawa: SHSL Paranormal Investigator (Me)_**

 ** _2\. Rinka Nono: SHSL Conspiracy Theorist (Harukawa Ayame)_**

 ** _3\. Sora Takanaka: SHSL Mortician (CaptainDallasGQ)_**

 ** _4\. Hazuki Mao: SHSL Chess Master (Rinjai)_**

 ** _5\. Jun Yanagi: SHSL Music Therapist (TheRoseShadow21)_**

 ** _6\. Akito Yoichi: SHSL Firefighter (Kukasabe Swift)_**

 ** _7\. Reina Abrams: SHSL Mystery Novelist (CandiedStars)_**

 ** _8\. Archer Alcott: SHSL Inquisitor (Richard Conway)_**

 ** _9\. Maria Dawson: SHSL Ballet Dancer (ToonGuy)_**

 ** _10\. Marissa Steele: SHSL Cowgirl (OB13)_**

 ** _11\. Walter Tidwell: SHSL Businessman (AcapelTorien)_**

 ** _12\. Hope "Clover" Sprout: SHSL Ecologist (SqualinaTralala)_**

\--

 _These characters are gonna be so fun to write with, I'm genuinely excited. Thanks to the owners of the characters for sending them in (go give them some lovin'). Again, I'm sorry to those who's characters I didn't accept. They were all amazing, but there were only a few slots. The first character introduction will probably be out soon (CAUSE I'M STUCK IN BED WITH A F*ING BROKEN LEG), and if it's not, that means I'm probably busy writing ahead several chapters or asleep. So until then, I hope you all have a nice day (or night)!_


	3. Prolouge: 0 - 1

_So here it is, the first real chapter. I hope it's okay, and I hope_ I _got it out at a reasonable time. Sorry if there are spelling errors (which there probably are), and sorry if this intro seems rushed, the pain killers make me sleepy. Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

I'm greeted by darkness as I step further into the hall, my footsteps echoing off the walls. Where am I?

"Hello?" I call out to my new acquaintance. "I'm out. Uh...where are you?"

They don't answer. I can see a square of lighting coming out of a room further ahead. As I approach it, I see a silhouette pass by the light, and I stop dead in my tracks. Carefully, I take a step forward. "Hello?"

A head pokes out of the room, nearly scaring me half to death. I cry out and stumble backwards. The figure laughs and emerges all the way out of the room.

"Sorry 'bout that, didn't mean to scare ya," They get closer until they are right in front of me. "I didn't really expect a paranormal investigator such as yourself to get scared like that,"

I regain my composure and laugh nervously. "Ah, well, I do get startled kind of easily, so…" I trail off. I can only see a faint outline of the figure, who is taller than me by a few inches. I can't make out their face, because it's so dark, but their voice sounds feminine.

"I should probably introduce myself I guess. Sora Takanaka, at your service Miss Hisakawa." Their - or her - outline shifts, and I can faintly see her hand out in front of her.

"Oh! Um...n-nice to meet you Sora," I take her hand and she immediately delivers a handshake that crushes my hand. "Strong grip," I groan when she releases me.

"Thanks," There's a hint of a smugness in her voice.

We both go silent for a few moments; I was never good at small talk.

"So, uh, you go to the academy too?" I finally ask her.

"Yeeeeeep," She says, popping her 'p'.

"What's your, um...title?"

"Mortician," Sora says bluntly.

 **Sora Takanaka: SHSL Mortician**

"O-oh, so you work with-"

"I work with the dead, same as you. How rad is that?"

"Oh...uh, pretty...rad,"

I remember hearing of a mortician attending the academy, but I've never formally met her...well until now that is. I believe she's an upperclassman...

The awkward silence returns. All of a sudden I hear a voice at the end of the hall behind me.

"I found the circuit breaker!"

A bright light blinds me suddenly, and I cover my eyes.

"Shit," I mumble.

When I blink the spots out of my eyes, I look over at Sora, who had a frown on her face and her eyes squeezed shut. I stare wide-eyed at the women I was finally able to see in front of me.

She's only a few inches taller than me, and she's a lot fitter too. Her skin is insanely pale - I take it she doesn't spend a lot of time outside - her face thin and angular, and her eyes are a soft dark gray. Her shoulder length black hair is wild and unkempt, and her choppy bangs fall over her eyes. She is dressed in a black pinstripe vest, worn over a plain white button up, which is neatly tucked into a pair of black trousers. Her sleeves are rolled up, revealing a bunch of tattoos of cute ghosts and skeletons on her right forearm. A small tie clip is attached to a dark blue tie adorned with little skull patterns. She has simple dress shoes on her feet, and blue socks peek out from an exposed part on her ankle.

Sora smirks. "Likin' whatcha see? Cause I am," My face starts to heat up. She sticks her tongue out at me, and I can see a silver tongue stud near the tip of her tongue, which makes my cheeks flare up even more.

I remember seeing her in the halls of the academy. She's one of many people I was too afraid to talk to. I believe she's in the fourth class...

"Uh...maybe we should see who turned on the lights," I said as I redirect my gaze to the ground.

"Sure sure, sounds good," She walks past me with her hands in her pockets and a spring in her step, and I follow along, trying not to trip over my feet.

Now that the lights are on, I'm able to see the surrounding area better...not that it's much to look at. It's just a plain concrete hall way...but the ceilings are so high, I can just barely see where the walls meet the roof. Sora and I pass by the room I had just been in, the door slightly ajar, and a little past that is another door that looked similar, but this one closed. I stop in front of it as Sora continues on and peek inside. Curled up on the cot is a small girl, appearing to be asleep. She is wrapped in an orange hoodie, and a pair of red high top sneakers are on the floor next to her bed. A black tuft of hair is sticking out from underneath the hood of the jacket. Gently I knock on the door, which causes her to stir a bit. I knock harder, and she groans softly before sitting up.

"Mm...what time is it?" She yawns as she rubs her almond shaped eyes. She stops moving when she sees me.

"Um...hi…" I mumble.

"W-who are you?" She grabs onto the sheets of the bed and pulls them over her body, as if to shield herself from me.

As I open my mouth to introduce myself, Sora appears next to me.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?" She asks, and looks into the room, noticing the girl. "Oh, hey,"

"W-who a-are you?!" She shouts. The look on her face is one of pure terror.

"Sora Takanaka. And you?" The mortician opens the door and steps into the room. The girl shrieks and burrows further beneath the sheets.

"Um…" I follow Sora into the room. "...It's...uh... alright. We're not going to hurt you…I'm Saki Hisakawa" The girl peeks out from behind the sheet, her pale blue eyes wide in fear. "U-uh...could you tell us your name..?"

"M-my name is Rinka...Nono…"

"Pleased to make your acquaintance Miss Nono" Sora steps towards her with her hand extended. Rinka stares at Sora for a moment before timidly taking her hand. I cringe as the mortician crushes the poor girl's tiny hand with her iron like grip. Rinka yelps and retreats her hand as soon as Sora let go.

Sora smirks. "Sorry 'bout that,"

"Uh...do you go to Hope's Peak too, Rinka?" I ask.

She began to get out of the cot. "Y-yeah, I-I do. I'm th-the SHSL Conspiracy Theorist…"

 **Rinka Nono: SHSL Conspiracy Theorist**

I've definitely heard of her before. She's only a year above me, in class six. I've read a few of her articles, including one of her first, and most interesting, theory on the conspiracy with the Diet and the Japanese Government.

"Oooo, so do you have like a blog and stuff?" Sora asks. Rinka nods. "Coool,"

Now that she is off of the cot completely, I'm able to observe her better. Her black hair is pulled into two small ponytails, that contrasted with her fair skin. She's a few feet shorter than me, and a lot thinner too; if a strong gust of wind were to come through here, she would definitely be blown away. Her pastel orange hoodie is unzipped, revealing a white buttoned up shirt underneath. Her thin legs are covered in black stockings, and she wore a pair of puffy beige shorts.

"W-wait, do you guys go to th-the a-academy too?" She asks as she pulls on one of her shoes.

"I'm a mortician, and Saki over there is a paranormal investigator," Sora jabs a thumb over her shoulder at me.

Rinka drops the other shoe and stares at me. Her pale blue eyes are wide again. "P-paranormal?"

"O-oh, um...I investigate claims of supernatural occurrences...like aliens, ghosts...that sort of thing," I tell her.

"G-ghosts?" She takes a step away from me.

"Uh…"

"..." She doesn't say anything. Suddenly she bolts past me and out of the room.

Sora starts laughing. "Oh, that's some funny shit…" I ignore her and chase after Rinka. Is she afraid of ghosts or something? I didn't mean to scare her so badly… Good thing she isn't too fast. I see her hood bouncing after her...are those bunny ears on the hood? Nevermind... She is about to round a corner when she gasps and stops in her tracks.

"Hey, be careful, you almost ran into me," A muffled deep voice told the small girl. Rinka seems to shrink as she takes a step back, murmuring a sorry to the stranger.

"You should be sorry. There could have been anything around this corner that you could've walked into, but you didn't even think about that did you?"

"Hey, chill out bud," Sora says from behind me, making me jump.

The person rounds the corner and immediately I'm intimidated. Rinka scurrys the other direction.

"Chill out? How about you watch your attitude, lady. That girl is recklessly running around, and at what cost? There could have been something dangerous around the corner and she just ran around it without even thinking about that," He shouted at us. I wanted to retaliate, but honestly I'm afraid he'd crush me. Standing before me is a tall, athletic man with the scariest eyes I've ever seen. His spiky orange hair resembles fire, and the tips of it are black; a small tuft of loose hair falls on his fair skinned forehead. He wears an ochre sports jacket that has black stripes running along the seam on the arms, hips, and shoulders. Strips of reflective material ran next to the stripes. Under that is a black shirt, tucked into a pair of dark indigo pants and a pair of black boots. Around the lower half of his face and neck is a black cycling mask, the lower half of a white skull printed onto it. It looks like he's giving me a menacing, toothy grin. His almond colored eyes shoot daggers at Sora, who's trying to hold back a laugh.

"Okay edge lord, whatever ya say. I'm gonna go find Rinka and give her back her shoe. See you later Saki," She smiles and winks before walking in the direction Rinka went, leaving me alone with the man.

"Is she your friend?" he asks.

"Ah, um...w-we just met," I stutter.

"Well you should avoid that one. She seems...off,"

"Uh...you d-don't seem too...friendly...yourself,"

He glares down at me and crosses his arms. "Better watch it ma'am, I was just starting to warm up to you," I shift uncomfortably. "So who are you anyways? Do you know where we are?"

I clear my throat. "Uh...Saki Hisakawa...and I'm not sure where we are,"

"Wait, Hisakawa...I've heard of you," he growls.

"You have?" I ask. I don't think I've ever meet this man.

"Yeah, you're that idiot paranormal investigator that got her hand cut off by some despair freak,"

Oh. I remember him now. Class 5, Akito Yoichi. The first day I went back to school after I was released from the hospital, he approached me and gave me a huge lecture about being reckless. He would give me death glares during free period.

"Oh, um, yeah...Yoichi is it?" I ask, becoming embarrassed.

"I hardly see how it matters, but yeah. Akito Yoichi, SHSL Firefighter. Pleasure to make the acquaintance of an utter imbecile,"

 **Akito Yoichi: SHSL Firefighter**

"H-hey! It's n-not like I asked to get attacked!" I grab my wrist protectively.

"What were you even doing in that house anyways? Besides walking willingly into the face of death?"

"Uh, I was on the job? F-future Foundation contacted me to try to get in c-contact with the spirits of p-people who died in the Tragedy,"

He shook his head. "That's a stupid reason to put your life in danger. Why are people so stupid?"

I ball my hand into a fist. "S-shut up! I don't have to stand here and take this. It's good to see you, asshole," I step past him and round the corner.

"Hey, I'm just trying to keep you safe. It's not my fault you walk head on into the danger," he shouts after me before walking away. His shoes click when he walks. I block him out and keep walking. I look at the walls to find anything to distract me, but it's the same tall hallway with smooth, featureless concrete walls. In the distance, I can faintly hear two voices, one is loud and spoke english, and the other is stuttering, and muttering something in broken english. I could start to see two figures, who appear to be by some tables. As I approach them, I could see it's a man and woman. The woman is leaning on a table, talking to the man, who is sitting at the table, his shoulders hunched over. Even from here, I can see the fear in his eyes.

"Coooome on Bucko, just come do it! A big tough guy like you can handle anything for sure!"

"N-no, you do it, I'm scared to go,"

"Nonsense! Could ya at least try? For meeee?"

"Um, uh...excuse me," I say, when I finally get close enough to be audible over the loud woman. Said woman looks up at me, and smiles broadly.

"Howdy!" she shouts. I'm taken aback by how loud she really is up close, and by how heavy her accent is. A southern, probably. "Who might you be?"

"Oh, u-um, Saki Hisakawa, SHSL Paranormal Investigator," I decide to just start introducing myself with my title, since everyone in here must go to one of the academy's. I'm guessing this southern woman goes to the American branch. When the schools were reestablished, basic english and japanese was added to the required curriculum, since the Future Foundation funded monthly talent meetings between the American and Japanese divisions. They encouraged communication between schools, but I was never too active at them. All I can really recall is standing in the corner and watching the other students talk and laugh…

"W-wait, Saki?!" the man shouts. I look at the man, who I recognize immediately. Sporting a dark green suit, with a black and white checkered tie, a butterfly pin on his left lapel, and a few rings on his fingers is none other than Hazuki Mao, my classmate.

 **Hazuki Mao: SHSL Chessmaster**

As always his dark hair is neat and orderly, and...has he grown again since the last time I saw him? He's at least several heads taller than me. At the moment his pale skin is flushed and his light blue eyes are wide with fear with a hint of relief.

"Uh...Hazuki?" He springs forward and rushs towards me.

"S-saki you have got to help me. This l-lady is terrorizing me," he whispers, his fingers digging into my arms.

I look over at the woman, who smiles innocently and tips her stetson.

"T-terrorizing, Hazuki?" I ask, confused.

"Yes! She's t-trying to get me to go in th-there," he points over my head. I turn and see another metal door, the only one I've seen in this hallway so far. There are two rows of two tables, and the path in between led to the door. There was no window.

"Why?" I ask.

"I d-don't know! Why don't y-you ask her?" He spins me around and pushes me towards the woman.

She is still smiling. She's quite taller than me, making her all the more intimidating. Her skin is a peach color, her hair a golden blonde, and her eyes a startling shade of sky blue. She wears a burgundy and green plaid flannel, unbuttoned to reveal a white tank top, as well as a pair of light blue skinny jeans. On her left hip, attached to the belt loop of her jeans, is a lasso, with probably enough rope to hogtie any critter that gets in her way. Finally, on her feet are a pair of dark brown cowboy boots.

"Oh, u-um, hi…" I say nervously.

She tips her dark brown stetson again and laughs.

"Well howdy there Saki! It's nice to meet a fellow Ultimate. I assume you go to the Japanese division like Hazuki over there, yeah?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Um...who are you a-and why are you...uh, terrorizing him?" I ask her.

"Boy, you sure are a quiet gal, ain't ya? Well, the name's Marissa Steele, and I'm the SHSL Cowgirl!"

 **Marissa Steele: SHSL Cowgirl**

"Ah, um okay…why are you messing with Hazuki?"

"Oh, I was jus' pokin' fun at the cutie," Marissa looked at the chess master with a grin. "I jus' wanted him to check out that there room with me. He musta took my approach the wrong way,"

I look at Hazuki, who is standing off to the side, looking rather worried.

"Uh, o-okay...clearly he doesn't want to, so…" I look at her and she is staring back at me expectantly. "I'll g-go with you…"

"Great!" she shouts and grabs my wrist. Marissa pulled me towards the door. "You can open it Saki!"

"Oh! Uh, okay…" I said. I look at the door, and it seems to look back. I turn the knob slowly, then push the door open.


	4. Prologue: 0 - 2

_Hey there! Hope this update isn't too late. I would have finished it sooner, but I've been feeling rather sleepy lately (don't worry I won't go into the light). There will be one more chapter involving character introductions, and then that'll be it. We'll really get into the story after that! Speaking of the story, I recently asked the owners of the characters whether or not their character would be up to being the mastermind, and I got some pretty good offers, but I think I have a character selected that will fill the role perfectly. I won't say who though :D Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the story, and I hope I portrayed the characters up to the owners standards. Reviews are always appreciated!_

* * *

The door creaks open and I'm faced with... just a room. A large one at that, full of tall shelves and large cabinets.

"What in tarnation?" Marissa murmurs from behind me. I take a step inside. The walls and floor are the same concrete as the hall, but the cabinets and shelves are metal, like the tables. On the shelves are sets of unlabeled boxes; the cabinets seem big enough to store a body. I walk over to one of them and open it, and nearly jump out of my shoes when something comes falling out.

"Crackers!" Marissa laughs as she holds up the box of food.

I give a shaky thumbs up as I calm my pounding heart.

It almost stops altogether when I hear a muffled noise coming from the shelves. I turn my head towards the noise, and instinctively reach for my backpack.

"Hello?" I call out, going into full investigative mode.

Marissa meets my eye. She grins and nods excitedly. I look back at the shelves, pull out the EMF meter, and start to walk towards it. There's nothing on the meter. I peek my head around the shelf, and scream. As does the woman kneeling on the floor.

She throws the box that's in her lap at me in surprise, and I catch it with my face and fall on my ass. Marissa shouts too, and grabs a box from the shelf, ready to throw. Hazuki gasps at the sudden commotion from outside the room.

I'm convinced that I'm dead, until I feel someone's hand on my arm.

"Oh my goodness, are you alright? I didn't mean to throw that at you, dear, you just startled me," Someone spoke softly. I open an eye, and look at the woman crouching next to me. A friendly looking, slightly tan face hovers above me, her eyes soft and caring, her eyebrows furrowed with worry, and a small smile on her lips. Her hair is brown and mousy, but looks thick and silky, just going past her shoulder. A small bundle of her hair is gathered in a ponytail near the side of her head, her fringe falls just above her brow, and her long bangs hang on both sides of her face, framing it. Her build is average and solid; she is a little bit chubby, but her wrists are surprisingly thin and her hands calloused and long. She's dressed in a long dark grey sleeveless cardigan, a short sleeve jewel-colored blue shirt dress, and a pair of black leggings. Her converse like shoes are black with little silver stars printed all over them. There are silver hoops in her ears, silver chain bracelets on her right wrist, and a black leather watch on her left. There are two black hair clips at the top of her head, and when she gives me a hand to help me up, I notice her chipped nail polish, each finger is painted different color. Her overall aura screams elegance and kindness, and I feel as if I could entrust her with all of my secrets.

I would never do that ever though, not in a million years.

She pulls me to my feet - I notice she's only about an inch taller than me - and picks up my EMF meter, which I had dropped when I fell.

"What's this thing?" she asks. Just as I'm about to tell her, Marissa starts yelling again.

"Well praise the holy cow! It's ol' Junjun in the flesh!" the cowgirl shouts before delivering a backbreaking hug to the poor girl.

"Hello Marissa," she groans while being crushed in the southerners arms. When she's released, she takes a deep breath and tries to lock her spine back in place.

"What're you doing here?" Marissa asks.

"Do you mean this room or this entire place?"

"Yes,"

The girl sighs. "Well, I'm not sure where we are or why we're here, and I assume you two don't know either, but I came in here trying to find something that would turn on the lights, and lucky me I find the circuit breaker," she points to the silver box on the wall behind her. So she's the one who turned on the lights. "Then I start going through boxes, trying to find some extra clothes, or maybe an instrument of some sort, but so far I've found nothing…" She looks at me. "I'm terribly sorry, I don't believe we've met," She hands the meter back to me.

"Oh, um, no we haven't…" I murmur. "Uh, I'm Saki...Hisakawa," I hold up the meter. "SHSL Paranormal Investigator,"

She smiles warmly. "It's good to meet you, Saki. I'm Jun Yangai, the Super High School Level Musical Therapist. It remains to be seen if we will get along or not, but let us hope we do,"

 **Jun Yangai: SHSL Musical Therapist**

"Oh...so do y-you attend the American division?" I ask.

She nods."It's kind of a long story,"

"Hey, how's your brother?" Marissa asks.

"Which one?"

"The cute one,"

Jun squints at the cowgirl. "You mean Isamu? Yeah, last time I checked he's fine. Why do you ask?"

Marissa's cheeks flush and she grins. "No reason," Jun shakes her head and turns back to me.

"So what is that thing?" she gestures to the EMF meter. "Do you use it for your talent?"

"Oh, uh y-yeah. It's for measuring the electromagnetic field of an area, and when there's an overcharge or irregularity in the field it goes off. Good for hunting ghosts or alien tech," I smile and pat the machine.

Jun gives a small smile. "You seem passionate about what you do,"

"Of course, I've been doing it since I was young," I grin as I recall my youth, talking to my first ghost in a graveyard, searching for cryptids in caves and forests. It seemed so perfect then, but all good things come to an end eventually. And they did.

"Hey, I think I hear someone else out there," Marissa said, looking towards the door. "Maybe we should meet 'em,"

Jun nods, I shrug. Before I know what's happening, the cowgirl grabs Jun's wrist and my hand, and pulls us with her towards the hallway, but she tugs a little too roughly, and my hand comes loose and falls to the ground. As plastic and metal hit the concrete floor with a clunk, both girls scream.

"...fuuuuuuck…" I whisper.

"Holy fucking shit, I just tore off your hand! Fuck, fuck fuck! I just tore off your FUCKING HAND."

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod,"

Calmy I pick up the hand and pull off the glove concealing the artificial limb.

"Um, calm down...please...it's just my fake hand...please stop screaming…"

"What happened to yer hand?!" Marissa shouts.

"Uh...it was cut off in a...um...attack. From an insane man during, uh, one of my investigations…"

"Oh dear," Jun says. She gives me a hug and I stiffen up. "I'm so sorry, sweetie,"

I pat her arm and clear my throat.

"Eh...you don't need to be sorry, it happened a while ago...sorry for scaring you guys,"

Hazuki peaks in. "You guys alright? I heard y-you scream several t-times," he eyes my hand. "How'd th-that fall off?"

"I, uh, pulled too hard," Marissa says. She still sounds shaken up, but she smiles nonetheless. Hazuki nods, and starts to smooth out his hair, one of his few neat freak ticks.

Suddenly, someone else pokes their head into the room, making me jump slightly.

"Yeah, you guys scream a lot. I could hear Marissa from the other end of the hall!" A girl who's way taller and way fitter than me steps into the room and saunters up to me. "Could I take a look at this?" she gestures to my hand.

"Oh! U-uh, sure?" I hand her the prosthetic, which she begins to examine, while I examine her.

This girl seems too perfect to be real. When she smiled at us, I was nearly blinded by her teeth. Her cream colored skin was free of blemishes, save for a scar that I notice on her left arm. Her emerald colored eyes gaze thoughtfully at my hand, her long lashes complement them well. Her auburn hair is pulled back into a bun, her bangs framing her heart shaped face, a hairstyle much like mine, but a lot cleaner and overall better. She wears a black crop top with the words 'CRIME SCENE' written across her chest in big white letters, a pair of maroon high-waisted shorts, black thigh high socks, and a pair of maroon wedges. A simple white scarf is wrapped around her neck, and a few pens and a black notepad stick out of her short pockets.

"Do you mind explaining to me what happened to you?" the woman's eyes shine with curiosity.

"Uh, a-actually…it is a bit of a...sore subject... but basically, Future Foundation had sent me to an a-area to, um, t-try to get in contact with v-victims of the Tragedy, and I was a-attacked by some d-despair freak. He, um...cut my hand off and...um, he ate it...right in front of me," Jun gasped.

"He ate it? Raw?" the woman asks with an eyebrow raised.

"Y-yeah," I shift uncomfortably.

"Well, Future Foundation should know better than to send someone into dangerous territory unprotected. Just another example of why they're the real menace behind all this," She gives me my hand and grins at me. I resist the urge to shield my eyes.

"Sorry for all the questions. I was just interested in your story is all," she extends a hand. "I'm Reina Abrams, the SHSL Mystery Novelist, it's nice to meet you. Whoever you are,"

 **Reina Abrams: SHSL Mystery Novelist**

I shake her hand, relieved that her grip is a lot looser than Sora's. I've definitely heard of Reina before. I'm mean, I've read her books religiously, especially her first stand alone novel, Ghosts in the Graveyard. There weren't any actual ghosts in it, rather a couple of murderous kids who dig up graves, pile their victims into them, and rebury them. The ending is this really morbid but beautiful suicide scene, where they bury each other alive. It wasn't a very popular book, but it remains to this day one of my favorites. It's kind of weird to have one of your favorite authors approach you and start to question you about your prosthetic hand, though.

"Um, I'm Saki Hisakawa...wh-what do you mean when you say Future Foundation is th-the, uh, real menace?" I ask.

She laughs. "Don't get me wrong, hope and all that stuff is great and all, but it can be blind. Especially when it comes to pushing people in front of the bus to get what they want,"

"Huh?"

"Haven't you ever read the whole conspiracy theory on Future Foundation? There are rumors that Co-chairman Kyoko Kirigiri and Makoto Naegi are in cahoots with the surviving members of the Remnants of Despair, and responsible for the formation of a new group of despair obsessed people. I think the writer of the theory goes to your division of Hope's Peak," Reina slips the notebook and a pen out of her pocket and flips through the pages. "I have her name here somewhere,"

"Um, is it Rinka Nono?" I ask.

She grins. "Oh my God, yes it is! Is she here?" I nod. "Ooooh, fantastic! This is just like one of my novels. I'm gonna go find her!" and just like that, Reina is gone.

Marissa smiles sheepishly. "Uh, she's a lot more excited than usual, ain't she Junjun?"

Jun shrugs. "Probably because of the situation. It's got to be giving her loads of story ideas right now?"

"Wait, so y-you guys...know her?" I ask.

"She's in Marissa's class," Jun says. "Normally she isn't that active. Usually she's just talking to her little group of friends or is tirelessly writing and researching for her next book,"

"Oh she's a real hoot alright! She has a morbid sense of humor, and talks a lot about corpses and stuff, but she's funny as all get out!" Marissa says with a laugh.

"I...am s-so confused," I mutter as I attach the prosthetic to my wrist, and slip the glove back over it. The girls watch uneasily.

"Uh, hey, sorry 'bout ripping your hand off. I feel real bad," Marissa takes her hat off and holds it to her chest.

"Please don't be sorry...a-accidents happen," I give her a small smile.

Hazuki watches silently from the door. Behind him I see...some guy...watching us with a smirk on his face.

"Uh...do you know that guy too?" I ask Jun and Marissa. They look out the door.

"He's two years above me...I've seen him, but I ain't met him," Marissa say while putting her stetson back on.

Jun just sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "He's in the class above me. I know him,"

"Um...do you...like him?" I ask.

I watch as the therapist grits her teeth. "Let's just say that he's a bit of a dick, and I don't really care for his company," she sighs deeply. "Out of all the people to end up in here…"

"Jeez, if he's sucha bad dude, then we should just avoid 'im" Marissa said with her hands on her hips.

"We can't. His sights are locked on us and it'll be impossible to get past him," she puts on a smile that is so obviously fake that I cringe. "We just have to go up to him, chat for a moment or two, and leave,"

"...okay?..." I mutter. Jun starts to the door, followed Marissa and I.

"Walter, great to see you? It's been a while, hasn't it?" Jun says to the man.

Hazuki grabs my arm. "S-saki, this man scares me,"

"Um, you're afraid of everyone…" I say.

"Y-yeah, but in a different way. Like when I talked to him, he made me feel gross. L-like he wanted to get into my head, l-like h-he wanted to u-use m-me and h-hurt me,"

"..." I don't say anything.

I take the time to inspect the stranger further. He's a few inches shorter than Hazuki, and his build is a lot like Hazuki's: slim and thin, but with more muscle. His hair is red and slightly curly, falling just above the nape of his neck. Over his dark blue eyes is a pair of black framed glasses that stand out against his fair skin. He wears a red dress shirt underneath a black suit jacket, accompanied by a clean white tie. To complete his attire, he has a pair of black jeans, black boots that shine even in the dull light, and a black fingerless glove on his left hand.

He smiles as we approach him, revealing a set of teeth as white as his tie. "Mrs. Yanagi, lovely to see you again. I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure of meeting your friends," he looks at us, and tilts his head. "More commoners such as yourself, I assume,"

He speaks in a chillingly monotone british accent. Hearing it makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry. There's something in his voice that makes me very afraid of him.

"Uh...I'm Marissa Steele, sir. I'm an underclassman...class 7…SHSL Cowgirl" Even Marissa sounds afraid of him. This is the quietest I've heard her so far.

His eyes met mine, and I feel like I want to die. "I'm...Saki Hisakawa, from the Japanese division...I'm the, u-uh, SHSL Paranormal Investigator,"

He laughs, cold and sharp. "Paranormal? That's quaint," slowly he extends his gloved hand towards me. "Well, my name is Walter Tidwell, I attend the American branch of Hope's Peak Academy under the title of Businessman,"

 **Walter Tidwell: SHSL Businessman**

I shake his one gloved hand with my one gloved hand. His gaze pierces mine, so I avert my eyes and look at the floor. Hazuki's right, this dude is creepy. I want to get away from him.

Jun seemed to pick up on my discomfort. "Well, Walter, it was great catching up and all, but we need to get going,"

"Aww, but I just got to meet your little friends. Why would you leave so soon?" he said, staring at Jun.

She looked away. "Because...there's other things to be done. Goodbye," with that, she spins around and starts walking in the other direction.

"Fine. I do hope we meet again soon," he adjusts his glasses and walks the opposite direction.

Hazuki grabs my arm again. "See, I t-told you,"

I simply nod, too stunned to say anything. Then I link my arm in the chess master's and we follow Jun and Marissa down the hallway into God knows what.


	5. Prologue: 0 - 3

_Hi again! Sorry if this update is kinda late. I've been busy with medical stuff, school stuff, sleep stuff, and tumblr stuff (which isn't all that important, but I get bored easily, you know?) I've also been writing a script for a visual novel I'm making, so that's fun, but it's very time consuming. I might give a shameless self promo of it sometime when I get further along in the script.  
ANYWAYS. This is the last prologue, and the last of the characters. I love them all so much they're my precious babies, and I can't wait to write them (AND KILL THEM OFF). So after this, we'll be getting into the madness that is confusing puzzles and character drama. That'll be a hell of a ride.  
Also, I think I'll change the rating of this story, partially because the excessive swearing and soon to be gore and violence. So that'll happen...soon...when I get around to it...  
Reviews are always appreciated, they make me usually shitty days into happy days. Enjoy the story!_

* * *

We are silent as we walk down the hallway, unsure of where we are, or if there's a way out. Marissa and Jun seem to know where they're going, because they walk ahead of us, talking with one another. Hazuki and I stick with each other, but say nothing. Our relationship is kind of a weird one. He's doesn't talk with people because he's afraid of getting bullied again, and I get nervous when I talk to people, but we were kind of there for each other during school and sometimes afterwards. He comforted me after the accident, and reminds me to calm down when I get impatient, and I play chess with him and occasionally defend him from rude people. We help each other, but we don't talk too much, we don't see the need to.

"So where do you think we're going?" he asks.

I shrug. Even if I don't know them well, Marissa and Jun seem like good people. I wouldn't go as far as trusting them, not yet at least, but I don't think they'll bring any harm to us. Although I am starting to get a bit impatient…

"H-hey, um, where are we, uh, going?" I ask.

"Back to the rooms we woke up in. I think I remember there being other people in different rooms," Jun says.

"Oh, uh, okay,"

We reach a corner and around it is...surprise, surprise, another hallway. It looks like the one that I met Sora, Rinka, and Akito in. I count seven total doors like the one on the room I woke up in. On the wall above the doors is a big letter 'B' carved into the concrete. One of the doors is open, but there is no light inside it.

Marissa immediately walks over to it and peeks inside.

"Heeeello?" she calls out. No response. She shrugs and leaves it alone.

I walk closer to one of doors and notice something I hadn't seen earlier. A name is engraved into the center of the door. This one says 'Jun Yangai'.

"Hey Jun...um, is this the p-place you woke up in?" I ask the therapist.

"Yeah, how'd you guess," she says as she walks up behind me. I point at the engraving, and she squints at it. "Oh...I didn't see that earlier," She walks to the door beside hers.

"This one is Walter's...and this one belongs to someone named Hope Sprout...hmm," she looks through the window and smiles. "Found one," Marissa flings the door open and steps inside. A scream immediately follows.

"What the hell? Who are you?!"

"Howdy partner! The name's Marissa Steele!"

Jun sighed and follows the rambunctious southern inside. Hazuki and I look at each other before entering the room too.

Like Rinka, the girl, Hope, had been sleeping in the cot. Right now she was sitting up with a terrified look on her face, and her chest heaving. Her wavy ash brown hair was styled into a bob cut, which at the moment was looking a bit disheveled. A large pair of round copper frame glasses sit crookedly on her face - probably because she fell asleep in them - and under them are her forest green eyes, wide with fear. Her skin is an olive tones, with a light spray of freckles on her cheeks. She is about Rinka's size, with a similar thin build, but looks about an inch shorter than both the theorist and me. Her clothes look like they came straight out if a fairy tale. She wears a khaki cardigan that looks way too big for her, a beige colored tunic covered in a vintage looking flower pattern, and a pair of burgundy leggings. Her boots look like leather, but they're probably fake. A silver clover necklace hangs around her neck.

"Hey Hope, it's alright. It's me, Jun, from the class below you," Jun says softly as she approaches the girl.

"Jun? Who are they?" Her eyes flit from Marissa, to Hazuki, to me. "Where am I?"

"This is Marissa, she's a freshman at our school," At this, Marissa tips her hat and grins. "That's Hazuki and Saki. They go to the Japanese branch of Hope's Peak," Hazuki and I don't say anything. I wave. The girl slowly waves back as she starts to calm down.

"Okay, but where are we?" she asks again.

"We don't know, Hope, but we want to find out," Jun sits on the edge of the cot.

The girl, Hope, is quiet for a moment as if she's processing what Jun had said, but then she gets out of the bed.

"Sorry for the over reaction, you scared me," she said to Marissa, who tips her hat again in response. Hope stares at Marissa's hat with a scowl on her face. "Is that...leather?" she asks.

"Yes ma'am it is. Wrangled the critter and tanned it's hide all by my lonesome," the cowgirl says. Hope looks disgusted, and is about to say something, when Jun intervenes and guides Hope towards Hazuki and I.

"Let's meet these two shall we?" The therapist says. Hope looks like she wants to object, but instead remains quiet.

Hazuki clutches my arm, and I immediately can tell he doesn't want to be here. I give him a reassuring look, then look back at Hope, who's staring at us curiously.

"Uh...I'm Saki Hisakawa, the uh...SHSL Paranormal Investigator…" Hazuki squeezes my arm again. "...and this is Hazuki Mao...SHSL Chess Master,"

"Wait a second," Marissa shouts, as if she just realized something. "I've hears of you before. You were on the news, 'cause you saved that Blue-what'sit forest or whatever. You're the Sprout of Hope!"

Hope visibly cringes when Marissa says this, but smiles nonetheless. "God, that was six years ago, you still remember that? It's called the Bluebell forest, and yeah, that was me. But please don't call me the Sprout of Hope, it's just a dumb nickname given to me by the media. I prefer to go by Clover. My full name is Hope Clover Sprout, and I'm the SHSL Ecologist,"

 **Hope Clover Sprout: SHSL Ecologist**

I remember seeing Hope, or Clover, on the TV now. She had started a campaign to save the Bluebell forest and the Bluebell village when the Japanese Diet made plans to destroy the forest to build a new city. After two years of gathering enough support, Hope had won the battle against the government and the forest was saved. I smile at her and she smiles back.

"So are there other people in this place, or is it just you all?" she asks.

"U-um, yeah, there's a few other people in here...but I d-don't know where they went…" I say.

Jun raises an eyebrow at this. "How many others have you met?"

"Oh, um...let's see...not c-counting you, Marissa, Hazuki, or Clover...I've met five people…"

"Woah, that's a lot of people," Marissa says. "A-are there any more of us?" Hazuki asks.

"Uh, w-we might as w-well check…" I say.

Out of nowhere, someone behind me taps my shoulder and I jump nearly a mile high. "Excuse me?" A light voice says quietly.

I yell when the person touches me, and stumble forwards. The person who tapped my shoulder cried out too, and cowered away as if my reaction startled them too.

"Oh gosh, oh gosh, I'm sorry, I d-didn't mean to startle you...uh, I j-just heard v-voices, a-and-"

A girl with her shoulders hunched over stands a little ways from the door, her dainty frame shaking.

Jun approaches her and lays a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, but instead causes the girl to flinch. "Hey, it's okay, you're alright. Just calm down," she says soothingly.

The girl stops shaking, but she's still hunched over. After a few more encouraging words from the musical therapist, she calms down and rose to her full height.

"Uh...sorry about scaring you…" she rubs her arm nervously.

I can't help but let out a breathy laugh. "Th-this isn't the first t-time I've been s-startled today," I give her a wry smile, which she shyly returns.

I take a moment to look her over, because how can I not. She's tall and thin, but in an elegant and dainty sort of way. Her black hair is pulled back into tight bun, not a strand falls out of place. Her dark hair contrasts beautifully with her pale skin, as well as the many freckles scattered across her cheeks and nose. Her wide eyes are a pretty hazel color, and underneath them are dark, heavy bags. She's dressed in a cute ballerina outfit, complete with pink leotard and tutu, white-pink stockings, and a pair of uncomfortable looking pink shoes. A grey cardigan is draped over her shoulders. Based on her reactions, I come to the conclusion that she's like me in a way - a bundle of nerves who's easily startled - and I hope we'll get along famously. Well, if we can ever get the nerve to talk to each other.

"There we go, dear, why don't you tell us who you are?" Jun tells her.

The girl nods slowly. "Okay, okay...um…oh gosh...my n-name is Maria Dawson, it's a pleasure to m-meet you all,"

"Do you go to Hope's Peak?" Clover asks. Maria nods. "The American branch?" Again, she nods. "I don't recognize you, what class are you in?"

"I a-am from c-class seven," she says.

"Really? I don't recognize ya," Marissa says.

"Well, usually I d-don't have a l-lot of time to go to school, s-since I'm working on dancing a lot, s-so…" she shifts uncomfortably in place, and looks at the floor.

"Oh, you know what, I do remember you! You're the SHSL Ballerina who missed the first day of school, and had to do orientation the next day," Marissa says.

 **Maria Dawson: SHSL Ballerina**

This made Maria smile. "Oh gosh, y-yes, that was me. I h-had a concert that d-day that my m-mother told me I couldn't miss,"

"She sounds like a hardass," Clover says. "Not to be rude, but…"

Maria shrugs. "S-she says she's doing wh-what's best for me,"

I raise an eyebrow at this. I'm really not one to judge other people or what they do in their lives, but if her mother was really doing what's best for her, don't you think she'd let her attend school when she's supposed to? Huh…

Suddenly, a high pitched whine rings through the hallway - it sounds like feedback from a radio - and we all covered our ears. I can faintly hear Hazuki groan next to me. After a moment, the ringing dies down, and is replaced by a shrill voice that makes me cringe.

"Hey losers! You should all meet up at the big fucking door on the other east end of the facility. Be there or be square, because if you don't show up I'm going to crush you into a fucking cube!"

The voice is replaced briefly by static, then it was silent again.

"What...was that?" Clover asked slowly. "Who...was that?"

"I don't know but it gave me an ear ache," Marissa says with her finger jammed into her ear.

Jun steps past Maria and into the hallway. "Whatever it was, we should listen to it. It should give us the answer to our question,"

"Getting crushed into a cube doesn't sound like a good idea either," Hazuki murmurs.

"S-sounds good, but…" Maria starts. "Which way is east?"

"From what I've seen there isn't a 'big fucking door' over there," Jun says, pointing towards the way we came. "So my guess is that it's over there," She points to the other end of the hall, where another corner is.

"Oh, okay," Maria says, and skips along after Jun, Clover, and Marissa, who are already walking in that direction. Hazuki looks at me, shrugs, and follows them, and I tagging along after him.

"Psst."

I hear something behind me.

"Pssst."

I turn around, and see nothing.

"Psssst." The door that has the lights off creaks open slightly. I can faintly see a figure standing in the doorway.

"H-hello?" I say, carefully approaching the door. No of the others seems to notice, because they don't say anything.

"What's this I hear about you being a paranormal investigator?" A man says in smooth tone.

"Uh...how d-did you-"

"I heard you talking with those other ladies," He says. "That's a very interesting talent indeed. I can't beleive I've never hear of you,"

"Um...who a-are you?" I ask.

A tall, thin man steps out of the darkness. I have to do a double take, because he's…'looking' right at me but his eyes are shut? His golden hair is shaggy and short, and it curls at the tips. Some of it falls in his face. His overall build is lean - a little too lean - he's like a twig that could be easily broken by someone like Akito. A long black over coat falls past his knees, under that is a white dress shirt, a black vest, and a red tie. A brown belt, that closely resembles a snake skin, is strapped around his thin waist, holding up a pair of black slacks. He wears a pair of brown dress shoes, and a black fedora on top of his head. I can see a small silver clasp on his right ear, and attached to his belt is a silver chain, the other end tucked into his pant's pocket.

He grins at me, his white teeth gleaming. "It's Saki isn't it? Well I see no reason to give my name to someone who mumbles like an idiot. But I might as well concede," He extends a hand, giving me no time to defend myself. "Name's Archer Alcott, from the American branch, but people just call me Al. Ultimate Inquisitor. Nice to make your acquaintance, young lady,"

 **Archer Alcott: SHSL Inquisitor**

I've never heard of this guy, but from what I know so far, I don't particularly appreciate him. I'm getting a little ticked off, honestly. It creeps me out how this guy sees to be staring at me, even though his eyes are shut.

I shake his hand reluctantly. "Yeah, uh, likewise…" Archer, or Al I guess, just 'stares'. "Um…"

"So what have you encountered on your paranormal expeditions?" He asks. "Your talent just interests me to no end,"

"Um…" Is all I can say. I have so many questions. Why was this dude standing in the dark all creepy like? Why are his eyes closed? Why is he grinning at me like that?

"Well, whatever you have to say, spit it out," He says.

"Why i-is your room...dark…" I ask.

"My dear girl," He sighs. "This little speech impediment of yours, if you can hardly call it that, is getting on my nerves. You must talk clearly and and loud enough for some to hear you. Don't be stupid,"

"I-I can't h-help-"

"You're a paranormal investigator for crying out loud! You work with things that normally would chill other people to the bone. Why do you act so scared and weak around people? There's just no need for it, my dear,"

"Please s-stop," I say quietly. I'm starting to get frustrated.

"That stop stuttering like a fool," Al opens his eye slightly, and his grin falters a little. His eye is a piercing gold color, and it makes me even madder for some reason. "You're not a fool are you, Saki?"

I'm getting feed up more and more. This guy is just so frustrating, his whole aura is making my mind all hazy, and I need to be somewhere else, otherwise I'll get crushed into a little cube at the big fucking door, and-

"Shut up!" I yell at him. My head is pounding and I press my thumb against my temple, but it won't stop. "Stop telling me what to do! You don't think I can't help it? I don't want to be scared of people but I am! At least the paranormal isn't as cruel as the human race!" I scream at him and I can't stop. "You stand there all high and mighty and in the darkness, and you actually have confidence, but I don't and it's hard to get over that. I'm sorry if I'm a disappointment, I already know that I am, so there's no need to keep reminding me!"

Al is silent, his gold eye watching me rant carefully.

"I don't need people telling me to act someway when I can't, I can't, I can't. I'm going to be late for the big fucking door, and you're distracting me with your fucking ridicule, and I hate it!" I scream, and that's when I finally talk a breath.

I'm doubled over panting, and he still watches, not saying anything. When I calm down all the way, he speaks.

"Are you done with your little tantrum?" He asks.

"Don't talk to me like I'm some toddler," I spit.

He just smiles. "I see," He tips his hat at me. "Well, then I'll leave you to you're on devices then, dear," He walks past me, then stops a few feet away, looking back at me with his one glowing yellow eye. "I look forward to our future conversations, Ms. Saki," Then he's gone, and I'm left alone in the hallway, my heavy breathing echoing off the concrete walls.

* * *

I don't know how long it took for me to chill out completely, but it was long enough for someone to notice I was gone, because soon I hear someone talking to me.

"Why are you sitting on the floor?" Sora asks. I turn to look at her, and see the mortician staring down at me. Hazuki is behind her, looking rather worried.

"Oh...uh...I w-was just…" I started to stand up.

"D-did you f-flip out?" Hazuki asked. I shrug. "Was it because of that Archer guy? He's k-kind of an a-ass,"

I just look down at my feet. It's been so long since I've gotten so worked up about something. I guess now my anger-free clean streak is broken. Sora places a hand on my head.

"Chin up kid, dude's just a jerk. Don't let 'im get to ya," She said calmly.

"Y-yeah...thanks…" I say, looking back down at the floor.

"Hey. If it's worth anything, I think you're pretty great," She smirks. "And I hardly even know ya,"

Hazuki smiles at me.

I smile back shyly. "Th-thank you," I glance up at Sora. "Um...y-you're pretty great too…"

Her eyes widen, and she looks away, shoving her hands deep in her pockets. "Y-yeah," She starts walking away. "Now come on, the others are waitin' by some big fuckin' door. If we're any later, our asses'll be turned into cubes,"

I smile, and look at Hazuki, who's frowning. "What did that thing mean by turning us into cubes anyway?" He says tapping his chin. "Is there like a trash compactor they use? What will it do without mutilated bodies once they're in cube form? Is it even going to turn us into cubes or was that just an empty threat?"

I giggle. "S-stop overthinking it...it's p-probably an e-empty threat,"

The chess master shrugs. "Could be. Or it could be true," He begins to ramble again. I groan as I take his arms and walk him down the hallway after Sora.

* * *

 _HONK._


	6. Chapter 1: 1 - 1

_Hey there! Here's the next chapter. I don't really have time for an introduction because I'm going to be late for a doctor's appointment, and I wanted to post this real quickly, so enjoy. This one will be slightly shorter than the others, blah blah blah, there might be some spelling errors, blah blah blah, reviews are always appreciated, blah blah blah, kay bye._

* * *

 _A friend of a friend once told me that if you want to find ghosts, demons, or cryptids, that you have to let them find you. In all my years of being a paranormal investigator, this strategy has never worked. I've hunted bigfoot, acted as a mediator several times between rival packs of werewolves, exorcised demons a few times, learned a thing or two about raising the dead from a necromancer, helped countless ghosts and spirits move on, and even became apart of a local vampire gang, but all that happened because I went looking for it. I'm not the type of person to sit and wait for stuff to happen. I can think of only one time where waiting around actually got me somewhere._

 _I was in a gas station late at night after attempting to once again to track the sasquatch, and I was buying some coffee. The bus wouldn't come for quite a while, so I decided to sit in a little dinner area in the back of the store and drink my coffee. I had probably waited like fifteen minutes, but the bus still hadn't come, so I decided to get some more coffee. It was about another fifteen minutes later when someone else came into the store._

 _The store began to shake, and the lights flickered on and off. A blue glowing began to walk down the aisle. All I could do was sit, my hands gripping the edges of my seat hard enough to break the skin on my palms. Slowly the blue glowing came towards me, and I stopped breathing when the being appeared._

 _This tall figure, with shiny ebony skin, glowing white slits for eyes, and a flowing blue tunic draped around its shoulders approached me. In it's arms were several snacks, ranging from oatmeal cream pies to bags of potato chips. All I could do was sweat and stare._

 _Then a deep echoey voice filled my head._ " _ **Is the coffee any good?"**_

 _My mouth felt dry, but I spoke anyway. "Uh...y-yeah, but I'd put a few c-creamers in i-it if I w-were you,"_

 _The things slowly dipped its head as if to nod, and floated away._ " _ **Thank you,"**_

 _I watched as it dropped a stack of cash on the cashier counter and floated out the store. Then the bus came and I went home. I chalked the night I had up as an unplanned encounter with an ancient deity who just wanted to buy some gas station snacks._

 _The one time I wasn't looking for the paranormal it found me. The same thing often happens with trouble. I don't go looking for it, but in the end it always finds me. My entire existence so far has been just that, trouble always being able to find me when I least expect it._

* * *

Oh. That is a big fucking door.

"Saki! There you are, we lost ya there for a while!" Marissa bounds up to me.

"Oh...uh...y-yeah I sort of…" I glance over her shoulder and see Al 'looking' in my direction. "...got s-sidetracked,"

"Well, at least we know you're safe," Jun said from behind the cowgirl.

I don't really respond, because I'm too busy looking at this big fucking door. "Uh...what is…"

"We don't know yet," Akito booms. "Whatever it is it can't be good,"

This big fucking door is...pretty fucking big. It looks like it's made of solid metal, and it's so tall that I can just barely see the top. The metal is smooth, without any dents of markings. It doesn't even resemble a door, just a big fucking peice of metal embedded into the wall. But if that weird voice says it's a big fucking door, then I guess it's a big fucking door.

I notice Reina is poking around by the door, occasionally jotting something down in her notepad. She mutters something to herself, before knocking on the door. Waiting, she stares at the door, chewing on the end of her pen.

Something knocks back.

I can't help but yell out in surprise.

"What the hell," Akito shouts. He stomps forward and pulls Reina back, but is unable to catch Al, who slips pass him. He stands in front of the door and delivers three sharp knocks.

Whatever's on the other side of the door knocks three times in response.

This time it's Rinka's turn to shout. The small girl cowers behind Sora, who's grinning wickedly at the door. She looks like she wants to knock on it too, but Akito is giving her the evil eye.

"No one else knocks, you hear me?" the fireman shouts. "Whatever's behind this door could be dangerous,"

"We don't know that," Hope speaks up. "Whatever is knocking is sentient, so we should test to see-"

"No," Akito says firmly.

"You didn't even let me finish what I had to-"

"No," he says again.

Hope looks rather irritated, and is about to say something else to Akito, but Jun has a hand on her shoulder before she could say anything she'd regret.

"Who's to say you're in charge of us, Mr. Yoichi," Walter says smoothly. I chill just hearing his voice. The businessman says, approaching Akito.

"Because Walter…" Akito gets in his face. "If you assholes keep messing with this door, something dangerous could happen and you'll all be dead," He raised his eyebrow. "Do you want that?"

Walter looks a bit surprised, and...flustered? But he quickly regains his composure and smiles cooly. "I guess you're right. Carry on,"

I blink. What is with these people?

"I wanted to knock on the door," Sora murmurs.

"Me too," Marissa sighs.

"A-Akito's probably right though," Hazuki says. "Who knows what's knocking on the other side of it," He taps his chin. "Or what if nothing's knocking at all? What if it's-" I give him a look. "Right. R-rambling. Sorry,"

"What do y-you think called us over h-here?" Rinka asks. "Will it tell us where we are?"

"I s-sure hope so…" Maria says. "Gosh, I'm s-so confused,"

"The feeling is mutual," Hope says. She still looks angry, I can practically see steam rising off her body.

"Hey I'm sure we'll find out soon," Jun says with a grin. "I'm sure all of our question will be answered shortly,"

Maria shurgs. "I'm n-not sure I w-want to find out either… Whatever t-told us to c-come here sounded...weird,"

"Weird? Who are you calling weird beanpole!" Someone shouts. The same shrill voice from the announcement earlier echos off the walls.

My breath catches in my throat when I see a tall shadow cast on one of the wall. It looks fierce, with a thick body, and jagged looking teeth.

"I outta slash your fucking string bean body into pieces," It says, holding up a set of pointed claws. Maria is quaking in her ballet shoes, clinging onto Jun for dear life. The poor musical therapist looks like she's in pain, but looks too nervous to say anything.

"What's wrong with all ya, eh? Bear gotcha tongue?" It laughs and the things causing the shadow finally comes into view. It's...a tiny bear dressed in a suit?

"Wh-what the-" I whisper, but it seems to hear me.

"Got something to say, fatso?" It laughs. I should be offended, but all I can do is stare at the...thing.

It's a bear that's split into two colors, one half is white, the other black. It has a back button for an eye on the white side, and a weird glowing red gash on the black side. A sinister looking grin stretches across the black half, shining ever so slightly under the dim lighting. The suit it wears is a plain black tuxedo, with a wonky looking white and red striped tie.

It's a Monokuma.

I've never seen one in the flesh before, only in books or the media. I thought that the Foundation banned all Monokuma production and merchandise? This doesn't look like the original Monokuma's, though. It's smaller, and looks more metallic than the ones in the pictures.

"Uh, um, I-I, um," I stammer, unable to fully comprehend words at the moment.

"Jeez, never mind. Remind me to never talk to you," It says adjusting it's tie.

Reina crouches in front of the bear. "Hmm, adorable but…" She pokes it with her pen, and it giggles. "...creepy,"

"What! I'm not creepy! I'm the cutest thing you'll ever see!" It exclaims, flipping the author off with one of its little claws.

"What are you? You don't seem like the Monokuma's they taught us about," Al says curiously. He slinks towards the thing, and taps it with his foot.

This seems to anger it. "Oh, fuck off would ya? You kids should respect your elders! I won't answer any of your questions until you can show me a little fucking respect," It huffs and turns away.

"Sorry, about that," Al crouches next to it. "Where are my manners? Why don't you introduce yourself sir?"

The bear laughs loudly. "Know that's more like it!" It turns to us again, and puts its little paws on its hips. "Open your eyes kid, you'll go blind," It tells Al.

The inquisitor laughs. "That's not how it works,"

" _I'll_ make you go blind," It says darkly, showing off it's sharp metal claws. That seems to shut Al up. The bear laughs. "Anyways, introductions!"

It waddles towards the center of our group. "Well, well everyone, welcome to the game! I'll be your caretaker for the remainder of your stay. My name is Monokuma, but I prefer that you call me Komakaikuma!"

"Komakaikuma?" Sora snickers.

"What are you laughing at asshole?" It points a claw in her direction. She raises her hands defensively, still smirking.

"Game?" Hazuki says. "What g-game are you talking about?"

"Glad you asked, stretch," the little bear says giddily. It turns around and starts walking in the other direction. "If you'd all follow me please,"

Monokuma, or Komakaikuma I guess, led us down the hall and around a corner, until we were back in the hall I had woken up in. Is this place just a big square? Now that I'm able to see better, I count a total of five doors, including the one to the room I woke up in. On the wall above them is a giant letter A, much like the B in the hall on the other side of the structure.

Komakaikuma stops in front of the wall across from the doors, near the center of the hallway.

"Now then! Let's get this show on the road. Open Sesame!" It shouts.

At first nothing happens. But then the ground begins to vibrate, and I hear the sound of stone grating against stone. A big slab of concrete in front of Monokuma is slowly disappearing into the ground, revealing an opening in the wall.

"Ta-da!" Komakaikuma shouts. "Welcome to the labyrinth kids!"

I look into the opening. It's dark, and a weird noise is coming from it. Normally I'd be all up for going into something like that, but...this feels off.

"Wh-what is this? What do you mean labyrinth?" Rinka asks, her eyes wide.

"Komakaikuma, I demand you tell us the meaning of this," Akito shouts.

"Now calm down, you fuckers, I was getting to that!" The bear giggles. "Now then," It adjust it's tie again and begins pacing in front of the opening. "You are all probably wondering where you are and why you're here,"

"About time it got to this," Marissa murmurs.

"Keep that fucking mouth shut, Daisy Dukes!" The bear screams. "My bosses have imprisoned you in this labyrinth for their own amusement, for you see, inside this maze are multiple puzzles you must solve that will unlock that big fucking door. Once you solve them all, you're free to go!"

"That's it?" Al asked. "That's boring,"

"Ah ah ah?" Komakaikuma shakes it's little head. "That's not all,"

Its stops pacing, and faces the opening, putting it's little arms behind it's back. "The bosses want to see more than a bunch of stupid kids solving puzzles. They want…" Dramatically, it turns around, it's red eye glowing. "...bloodshed,"

"Wh-what?" Maria whispers, still clinging onto Jun, who looks like she's going to pop at any moment.

"Upupupu!" The bear laughs. "You see kids, the bosses are people who like to be...frequently entertained...so they use other people to amuse them, making them do whatever they want to see,"

"Interesting," Walter murmurs, a sly smile on his face.

"So when the bosses are bored, they round up some people, in this case it's you fuckers, and they…'play' with them in a way,"

"P-play?" Hope says, her voice trembling. "What do they want us to do?"

Korakaikuma laughed. "Kill each other of course!"

Everyone feel silent. My head hurts. A killing game? There haven't been any of those since the tragedy. Have the remnants of despair returned? Why is it us? Why did they choose us? Why do we have to kill each other? Why do people have to be like this way? I can't breath. I want to run away, but my feet can't move.

"What is this, some sort of sick joke?" Akito yells. "There's no way the Future Foundation is letting this happen!"

"Oh but they are," Korakaikuma snickers.

"Why aren't they doing something about this?" Jun asks.

"Because they're too concerned with all of their fucking hope bullshit to help you assholes out," The bear laughs. "That's people who believe in hope for ya, all caught up in believing in themselves and all that shit. Despair is the true way to go,"

"We'll never kill each other," Reina says defiantly. "There's no way you can make us,"

"I thought you might say that," Korakiakuma giggles. "That's why the bosses equipped the labyrinth with things that'll motivate you fuckers into the murdering spirit!"

I gasped, a stagger back slightly. Why is it that trouble always finds me? I didn't ask for this. "Wh-why a-are you d-doing this?" I ask.

"I'm just following the boss's orders, fatso. Don't shoot the messenger," It laughs. "Anyways, if I were you idiots, I would get in there and start solving some puzzles, or start killing each other right now, because the first...motive...will come sooner than you think,"

"You son of a bitch," Akito says through clenched teeth.

"Right back attcha airhead!" The Korakaikuma disappears right before our eyes, leaving us with this passage to god knows what, and no free will whatsoever.

It all seems so surreal. Like this is all a bad dream that I could wake up from any moment, but I can't. Trouble always has a way of finding me, as if I'm waving around a giant flag that says 'come fuck up my life'. It always comes, and it won't leave until it messes me up for the rest of my life.

* * *

 _Ayyy, shit man._


	7. Chapter 1: 1 - 2

**_Hey ya'll, I'm back and better than ever! I'm truly sorry for totally abandoning this fic. I fell into a bit of depression a while ago, and I had no motivation to do anything at all, let alone write. But now I'm feeling better, and I've decided to get back into the swing of things. This chapters going to be a bit short, and I apologies, I'm just trying to get myself acclimated with the story again. Also, I'm setting up a poll for who the first characters to have free time will be. I'd like to strive for two free time events per chapter, so if you could please vote for the two characters you'd like to see have free time, I would really appreciate that. The poll ends in maybe 3-5 days, depending on when I can write again. Thank you all for your patience, and again, I'm sorry I've been away. I hope you enjoy the story, in spite of it's shortness!_**

* * *

 _When I was a child, my father told me to never trust strangers. For most of my youth, I would keep my head down, never made eye contact, never talked to anybody if I didn't know their first name, last name, birthday… I spent all of my time by myself, wandering around the forest behind my house, or the graveyard across the street. Those places were devoid of life, so naturally I would feel right at home. The graveyard, however, attracted me more. There was something comforting about being among the dead, I felt at home almost. Here, I knew everyone's first names, their last names, their birthdates, and their death dates. That was more than enough information for me to not consider them strangers. It was nice to have all their info out in the open, without me having to actually ask them. I had bought myself a little machine off the internet that would allow me to talk to ghosts, and when the first one came into contact with me….well, I've never been happier in my entire life. To finally communicate with someone I can consider a friend...someone I could trust...it's the best feeling in the world._

* * *

Everyone's talking to one another, and after a moment, it all starts to meld together, becoming static as I drift into my own thoughts. ' _This is fucked, this is fucked, this is fucked, this is-'_ Then I feel a hand on my shoulder, pulling me out of my own head. Sora is standing next to me, looking down with a hint of worry on her normally 'give no fucks' expression. "Yo, you good? You're as white as a ghost." Then she breaks out into a grin. "Get it? Ghost? Cause you're a paranormal investigator-" She laughs. How the fuck can she be making jokes _now_ of all times. She must notice my discomfort, because she immediately stops laughing. "Sorry. But seriously, you good?"

I look at her for a second before biting my lip and turning away. "No..." I mutter bluntly. "This is fucked."

Sora is silent for a moment, until she wraps her arm around me comfortingly. "Hey, it's gonna be fine, yeah? We'll get through this. What's a few puzzles compared to some of the most talented people in all of Japan? _And_ America." She lets go and steps in front of the opening in the wall. "We're gonna solve this puzzle, right here, right now, and we're getting outta here." She shouts.

Just as she's about to enter the opening, however, Akito grabs her by the collar of her shirt, and lifts her off the ground. "No, you aren't, you don't know what the hell is in there. You could die as soon as you step inside."

She contemplates this for a moment before shrugging. "Would that be such a bad thing though?" She asks with a smirk. "If death was the case, I'd _gladly_ take one for the team."

Akito scowls, but ignores her and turns to the rest of us. "We need to discuss our plan of action for our current situation before we do anything hasty." He booms, shooting a look at Sora.

"I have to agree with the dude." Reina says, looking up from her notepad, which she had been previously scrawling something in. "As much as I want to get in there and explore, we have to figure out how we will go about it."

"Wh-who even says we h-have to g-go in there?" Rinka mumbles. "Wouldn't i-it b-be better to just s-stay in o-our rooms a-and wait f-for the Foundation to do something?"

"You're a little idiot aren't you my dear?" Al says, grinning as he 'looks' at the theorist, who nearly shrinks up when he speaks to her. "This is one of the most tragic things to ever happen to any of us, and you just want to hide from it?" He laughs, tipping his fedora forward slightly. "I'd rather die than waste such a wonderful opportunity."

This shuts Rinka up, and she hides behind Jun, the nearest person to shield her from the Inquisitor's rudeness.

Ignoring what Al had said, I take a deep breath to compose myself before speaking up. "Uh….as much as that sounds like a good idea….um, we should...probably take matters into our own hands…talk about what to do and such…." I say hesitantly.

"Oh, so she does have some common sense." Akito says sarcastically.

I scowl but say nothing to him, instead continuing with what I wanted to say. "There….w-was a set of tables, um, d-down that hallway. We….could regroup there?"

"Good idea, Saki." Marissa hollers, slapping me hard on the back. "Nothin' will get done if we just stand around twiddlin' our thumbs. Let's go."

Before Akito could say anything, nearly everyone was following Marissa down the hallway towards the set of tables I had met her by earlier. I shuffled along near the back of the group as well, Hazuki sticking by my side.

"H-how are you….uh, holding up?" I ask him carefully. I already know the answer to that, since I can feel him shaking like a leaf.

"N-not well." His voice cracks, and I pat his shoulder. "I'm g-gonna die h-here, Saki."

"No, you aren't….none of us are. We're going to solve whatever these….damn puzzles are and no one's going to get hurt..."

"Y-you don't know th-that."

"..." I don't say anything, just squeeze his hand tightly and continue following the others.

The metallic tables come into view, and one by one, the ten of us fill them up, Hazuki still sticking close to me.

"So. We're in a killing game. What do we do now?" Jun asks, sounding surprisingly calm about this entire situation.

"Well, obviously we should just do what the bear says." Walter speaks up, his voice sending a chill down my spine. "Plus I'm quite intrigued with what lies in this so called labyrinth." He says, stroking his chin in thought.

"I agree, it does seem interesting, but we need to formulate a plan so none of end up in danger, like Akito suggested." Clover says, biting her lip. "We need someone to go in there, test the waters-"

"No, no, no, we are not just sending anyone in that place blind." Akito cut the girl off. Clover huffs angrily in response.

"And why the hell not, huh? How else are we going to figure out where we are, or if there really is a chance of escaping this place?" She says, standing up.

"I dont know, but anything that involves sending someone into the unknown is stupid. End of story." He furrows his brow, his face mask making him look ten times more intimidating. Though Clover doesn't seem fazed. If anything she seems even more worked up.

"You're thick in the head aren't you? I bet you're the type of person to eat bacon with your breakfast." She mutters.

"Excuse me?" Akito asks.

"BURN." Sora shouts, earning a glare from both Clover and Akito.

"Nevermind. How else are we to find anything out if we dont send anyone in?"

Akito presses a finger to his temple for a moment before standing up and crossing his burly arms over his chest. "Anyone interested into going into that possible death trap, which you may or may not come back from? If so, raise your hand." He booms, glaring at Clover the entire time, who looks like she's going to explode with rage. I didn't really expect the girl to get so defensive over this, she looks so….innocent. Guess you can't judge a book by its cover, huh.

Just as I expect, no one raises their hand. No one really seem too keen on the chance of death. Not even Marissa, which is kind of a surprise. She seems like the type to be outgoing about this sort of thing. I guess this whole thing has really shaken her up. I'm surprised Al isn't raising his hand. The dude seems like the type to go nuts over this sort of thing. Instead he's just sitting there with a creepy smile on his face.

I find myself raising my hand up slowly

"Uh, I can…." I say, my voice just above a whisper. Hazuki's grip on my hand tighten - almost to the point of hurting - and he looks at me in horror.

"Hisakawa, you truly are an idiot." Akito hisses as he stomps towards where I'm sitting, his boots clicking. He slams his fists against the table, making me jump, and glares at me. "Do you know what the fuck you're doing, you reckless piece of shit? You're gonna lose another fucking hand because of the shit you get yourself into."

I'm starting to get pissed at this guy, thinking he can come up to me and ridicule me. I can't help but sneer at the man.

"Akito, piss off." I mutter, starting to stand up. "You have a funny way of showing concern, you know, and I don't much appreciate it."

"I just don't understand why people like you want to walk straight into death." He growls.

"Hey, b-back off m-man." Hazuki stutters.

"Akito, th-there's no need to b-be rude, Saki only w-wants to help." Maria pipes up, tugging nervously on the sleeves of her cardigan. "She's b-braver than you, you know. She actually t-takes a ch-chance on th-the unknown." I'm surprised Maria spoke up at all, she seems like the type who would normally remain quiet in these situations.

The firefighter seems to fume. "You shut your mouth. I'm only doing this for the safety of you ungrateful-"

"Maybe if you weren't sucha dick we would be grateful." I mutter as I adjust my backpack, turning to leave towards the entrance to the labyrinth.

"Why you-" He starts, the tips of his ears visibly going red. "I HOPE YOU DIE IN THERE." He shouts, smashing his fists against the table once more. "The rest of you can either join her, or go back to your rooms. I don't want anyone roaming around just yet. We can discuss the whole 'killing game' situation once Hisakawa comes back. If she comes back at all."

"Why should we listen to you?" Reina says defensively. "I mean, what are you gonna do if we don't go to our rooms, _kill us_?"

I can hear Akito growl as he slams his fists on the table once again. "Fine I dont fucking care, do whatever you want. You all deserve to burn in hell anyways." His boots click as he stomps off somewhere.

As I round the corner back to the hallway with the opening, everyone's voices start to fade out, and I'm left in silence, save for my own footsteps echoing off the walls.

' _This shouldn't be too bad, I've explored places worse than this before.'_ I tell myself as I approach the gaping hole in the wall. ' _This is no worse than the forest, or the mountains, or the crack houses, or-'_ I stop thinking entirely as soon as I'm standing in front of the entrance. I suddenly feel….

' _No, it's fine, you have to do this for them, they're depending on you. Just take a deep breath.'_ I slip my backpack off and dig inside, pulling out a flashlight. ' _Everything's going to be just fine.'_ Though now that I'm here, I'm seriously doubting if everything _will_ be okay. This isn't a graveyard I'll be patrolling. There are no strangers name's carved on a stone for all to see. This is uncharted territory, who knows what horrors could be within it.

Maybe Akito was right. Maybe I do just throw myself in recklessly. The last time I did, I lost a hand. Maybe I should just give up, go to bed, and when I wake up, I'll be at home, or maybe in the graveyard. Maybe I feel asleep at one of the gravestones, and the cold is causing me to have fucked up dreams? Maybe….

"No, just push forward. It will be fine." I whisper to myself as I turn on the flashlight.

* * *

 ** _Don't forget to vote in the poll!_**


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